Gun Danger Warning Signs For Dealers Considered By King County

SEATTLE, WA – Cigarettes and alcohol already have labels warning of their dangers. Why not guns?

That's the question being considered Thursday by the King County Board of Health.

The signs would be posted outside of gun dealers and shooting ranges and warn people of "the significant increase in risks to health and life from firearm ownership at the time of sale or transfer of a firearm."

The signs would also include contact information for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Get all the latest information on what's happening in your community by signing up for Patch's newsletters and breaking news alerts.

They would be available in Amharic, Chinese, English, Korean, Punjabi, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Ukranian, and Vietnamese.

The bill is one of five introduced in July by King County Council Chairman Joe McDermott and Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles.

Other bills in the package would require:

• Gun owners to securely store firearms and ammunition;
• The county to develop recommendations on how to reduce the amount of gun violence youth and young adults experience;
• The King County Sheriff's Office to destroy working firearms that have been forfeited or turned in by their owners; and
• The King County executive's office to establish a work group to develop gun safety and violence prevention strategies.

Those four pieces of legislation will be voted on separately by the King County Council.

Photo of County Council Chairman Joe McDermott and others introducing the Gun Safety Action Plan in July via King County.